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This is the car for you if… You want a sports car you can drive with a clear conscience.

The Porsche Taycan is a game-changer for the electric car industry. There was a lot riding on Porsche’s first electric car. But the German manufacturer has blown everyone’s expectations out of the water. It’s created an electric car that feels like a ‘driver’s car’. A sports car that’s comfortable covering long distances. And a luxury saloon that’s worth its hefty price tag.

So what makes the Porsche Taycan so special? For the German super brand’s many fans, it’s got to be the sleek saloon’s performance. There’s no doubt, it drives like a classic Porsche…But one that doesn’t pollute the planet every time you floor the accelerator.

The Stuttgart manufacturer hasn’t compromised on any aspect of the Porsche’s driving performance in its switch to electric. Its engineers have spent many painstaking hours producing a car that still gives a full-throttle experience – without the throb of a petrol engine behind it.

For a start, there’s your driving position in the car. The Taycan is only slightly smaller than Porsche’s Panamera saloon. But the manufacturer has given the Taycan a 911-style seating position. So it instantly feels sportier when you get behind the wheel (add the adaptive sports seats to get the full experience).

And then there are the classic features of electric cars that Porsche has used to its advantage. Like the instant acceleration you get when you start from a standstill. The Taycan 4S Plus does 0-60mph in an eye-watering four seconds. But unlike other electric vehicles, which typically have a single gear, Porsche has added a two-speed gearbox. This makes the acceleration feel much faster.

There’s also regenerative braking to recoup some of that energy back into the 93.4kWh battery. But to avoid drivers defaulting to one-pedal driving – which usually happens in an electric car – the regenerative braking only kicks in when you press the brake pedal. The result? The Taycan feels and drives like a sporty Porsche.

The Taycan is unmistakably a Porsche in appearance too. Slung low to the ground, the bonnet nosedives at the front and gradually slopes to the rear. Neat touches include floating four-point LED headlights, flush door handles that automatically spring open, and an optional rear spoiler system to boost the car’s aerodynamics. 

Inside, there are four eye-catching displays spanning the dashboard and central console. It looks like something out of NASA’s control centre. But once you’re behind the wheel, the set-up feels completely intuitive. There’s a 16.8-inch curved instrument cluster, perfectly positioned in your field of vision. To the left, is the main infotainment display, which can be endlessly configured.

And below this – in pleasing reach, so you don’t need to take your eyes off the road – is a touchscreen for the climate controls. Passengers get their own touchscreen integrated into the dash in front of them too (if you take up this optional extra). So they can interfere with your music choices or take control of route planning.

The Taycan’s interior feels plush and spacious – even more so if you choose the panoramic roof option. Passengers in the rear get extra legroom too. Thanks to Porsche carving out what it calls a ‘foot garage’ in each rear foot well, around the underfloor batteries. And the boot is surprisingly roomy, with 407 litres of space – despite the low-to-the-ground feel of the Taycan.

Porsche is very aware that its drivers are busy people who don’t want to hang around waiting for their electric car to charge. So it’s equipped the Taycan with a mighty 800-volt architecture, which allows charging up to 270kW. This means you can get up to 62 miles of range in a mind-blowing six minutes at a rapid charging point. That’s quicker than it takes most people to choose what coffee to buy.

The main thing you’re left wondering about the Taycan is what detail hasn’t Porsche considered? It’s a classic Porsche – but one you can make uniquely yours by choosing from the huge range of optional extras. So will the Taycan be the car to convert die-hard petrolheads? Who knows? But one thing’s for sure – the Taycan is going to create a whole new army of electric-loving Porsche fans.

Our three favourite Porsche Taycan 4S Plus features:

1. The curved display for the instrument cluster around your line of vision, proves once again that Porsche makes cars for ‘drivers’.
2. There’s a small (and fantastically-named) ‘frunk’ under the car’s bonnet, where the engine would once have sat. It’s only big enough for a weekend bag, but Porsche clearly hates wasted space as much as we do.
3. And finally… You’ll either love or hate the Electric Sport Sound – an optional extra you can buy to ramp up the car’s acoustic vehicle alert system. To some it’s reminiscent of a Star Wars spaceship; to others it sounds more like a hoover on the verge of breaking down. You decide…

You’ll like the Porsche Taycan if you… Want a ‘driver’s car’ in fully electric form.